Should I be upset?

If your apartment managers daughter has done a good job in the past and since you are going to pay someone, you might as well pay her and not trust your roommate again.

Its not worth the chance if he can't follow laid out directions.

:twocents

She doesn't follow instructions well, either. She just has done a better job than he did. Problem is, she is terrified of Toby (cage-aggressive). She won't go near him. I think that I will trust my roommate for weekends (less than 3 days). Anything 3+ days, I will pack/move the bunnies over to my mum's house.

I think some people just don't get it. At least your buns had hay this time...
The first time I left my rabbit and guinea pig for a week, my boyfriend's friend came over. I left a very detailed note. I came home and looked in one of the litter pans.. it was FULL of food pellets. Dirty, urine soaked, food pellets. Apparently he didn't realize the ceramic dish was for the food, and the box of GREY PAPER BEDDING was the LITTER box. I was very unhappy.
The second time we went away for a week I doubted his abilities and I had a sick rabbit. So I boarded the rabbits, boarded the ferrets (as I had the first time) and left him with a cage of rats, our guinea pig, our Patagonian Cavy, and a few plants to water. Fortunately we paid him well, which was incentive enough for him to do well, I guess. The place was very clean when we got back, and the animals all had food and water.
The plants. The easiest part. I showed him a pitcher and told him to water the tree once with the pitcher while we were gone. The other plants are above the kitchen sink.. I said.. just give them a little water once or twice. My newly potted plants were FLOODED. And I mean flooded. I put them in large glass vases with rocks on the top.. It was like he'd put at least two pitchers of water in each. I just thought... how much sense does it take to water a plant? Did I really underestimate someone's common sense THAT much?
At least the animals were okay... Then again, the vet the rabbits boarded at didn't even notice the abscess that was growing under Pete's chin.. even though they were syringe feeding him 3-4 times daily.
It's so hard to go on vacation...

I have to ask about the Patagonian Cavy! How are they as pets? Hard to get & take care of?

I have to be really thankful I have good bunny sitters here!

My older sister took care of my bunnies while we were in Florida this winter. She came twice a day to feed them, kept the whole bunny room clean, cages and all, and even cleaned the litter boxes. I felt bad having her have to do that since litter boxes are not the greatest.

Now this summer I have naturestee and my neighbor. My neighbor has pets herself and understands they all have different needs and she's great. And of course, naturestee is a bunny slave herself!

Maybe contact your vet's office to see if they recommend a good pet sitter...(I did that when I needed a horsesitter before I found one that is phenomenal AND reliable) or your local high school's guidance office - there may be a student looking for work pet sitting if they have an interest in animal science or veterinary medicine.

If you go the student route, I would make sure the student has transportation and speak with his/her parent. A guidance counselor can usually make a good recommendation on the right kind of responsible student.

Good luck!

Denise

I should probably also mention that I am paranoid. I don't like people "I don't know" in my apartment. I always think people are going to steal my stuff, do something gross on my couch, etc. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird.

I've thought of asking Julie to watch them, but she has her plate full. I don't think I'd feel very nice about asking her to take my dynamic duo. (They can be a handful!)

You should be upset at yourself. This person doesn't take care of the bunnies and obviously pay or not doesn't want to. It is perfectly clear. So it is YOUR responsibility not to berate or badger the roommate into compliance, which isn't going to happen, but to find an alternative.

I thought I mentioned that I was upset with myself for trusting him again?

I've already decided that even if he messes up, the bunnies will be fine for less than 3 days. He is going to be entrusted with their care for weekend trips only. If it's more than 2 nights, I will take them over to my mum's (even though it's over 30 minutes away, normally in the wrong direction, too). When I leave for the weekend trips, I pack them up with hay (which wasn't a problem this time lol), make sure they have a lot of water, then leave the rest to him. All he has to do is feed them (which he's good at lately, sometimes overfeeds, but that's not too bad). So, I've solved my dilemma.

My first reaction is to say that, yes, you have good reason to be upset. I think that you should give up on trusting your roommate to do a good job by your pets (fish included). Clearly, he doesn't listen to what you tell him and doesn't read your instructions.

Part of me wants to recommend that you either hire a pet sitter (if s/he will enter your place while a roommate is still there); another part of me wants to recommend that you board your rabbits with another trusted friend, if that's an option. But keep in mind that even professional rabbit boarders can disregard feeding instructions, as has happened to me in the past. Grrrr...

I wish you luck in finding someone trustworthy to care for your crew in the future.

Jenk